Important Covid Update
In response to the rising tidal wave of infections, we've made some abrupt changes to our Covid protocols. To help protect our community, we ask that everyone pitch in.
You are probably exhausted of the constant vigilance. We hope that these new protocols can simply become comfortable habits after an initial adjustment period. We will continue to review and update these protocols on a regular basis in response to the current situation.
Effective Monday, January 17:
Adult and teen students (13+) are required to wear N95, KN95, or KF94 masks to class. (See mask resources below.)
Youth students 12 and under are strongly encouraged to wear a KN95 or KF94. (See mask resources below.)
Coaches must wear a well-sealed N95s, KN95s, or KF94 mask while teaching both youth AND adult classes.
In addition to our existing vaccination requirement, coaches are also required to stay updated on their boosters.
You can view the updated Covid safety guidelines for youth programs here: Portland | Seattle. If you don’t have an appropriate mask the first week, we have extras—please ask your coach.
Why N95, KN95, or KF94?
Omicron is highly contagious, and cloth masks give you only minutes of protection. An N95 or other high-filtering mask can give you HOURS of protection:
[source]
A cloth mask leaks a lot and filters aerosols very poorly. N95s, KN95s, and KF94s filter 95%+ of infectious particles. And they can be made to fit tightly to the face—so the virus can’t slip past the filter.
Do we really need better filtering masks outdoors?
While an N95, KN95, or KF94 is an absolute must-have to protect from Covid infection indoors, you might wonder whether they are truly necessary outdoors.
The truth is, we’re not sure. Before Omicron, the risk of getting infected outdoors was low. Hence our previously relaxed position on masks for adult classes.
With Omicron being so highly contagious, we think it may be possible to catch outdoors when in close proximity. And many of us can’t afford to find out the hard way.
So for now, we are being conservative in our approach. N95s and the like do an amazing job of protecting against Covid, especially when paired with being outdoors. We plan to watch the news more carefully in the future so we can make adjustments to our policies.
Mask Resources
Ideally, your mask should fit tightly, but it has to be comfortable, too. We recommend watching these videos that cover some mask basics:
Youth masks: Watch Kids Mask For 12 & Under - A Primer for Parents in Under 20 Minutes (by Aaron Collins).
He has a spreadsheet summarizing his data on the best masks for kids (scroll all the way to the right for the links on where to purchase).
Adult masks: Aaron also has numerous review videos and a spreadsheet covering all his data on adult masks (scroll all the way to the right for the links on where to purchase).
Some other articles with recommendations: